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You are here -> Music / Features Wednesday, 07 January, 2009
PLANETNOTION TELEVISION!
CAMERA-FOLK AND FILM EDITORS WANTED!
Planet Notion is looking for guys and dolls to film and edit features for its new TV channel, PNTV. Accompanying Notion to artist interviews, gigs, fashion shows, festivals and international events, you will be skilled, passionate and full of ideas about how to produce shit-hot video content. Camera-folk will be experienced and ideally have their own equipment, or at least access to equipment, while editors must be able to turn projects around quickly, and with stylistic flare. If you can both film and edit content, we would especially like to hear from you! These casual, unpaid positions would be ideal for those looking to develop their showreels, and to get the chance to travel, film major artists and top events.
 
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When Dangerous Dave met The Black Lips
When Dangerous Dave met The Black Lips
08/05/2008
Alas, the pen is a dangerous tool; a tool with great ability - and not just if jabbed into the retina with such force that pus spews forth, like liquid from the tested needle of a junky. No, the pen has the ability to produce information for us to see and learn, albeit without an ink-stamped Guarantee. Ah, how one takes the pen’s work as a given, eyes scanning data like a puppy-dog drooling beneath a dinner table - ever eager to sink it’s teeth into yet another juicy scrap of meat. Mmm... Many stories have been written about self-professed ‘Flower Punk’ (“we came up with that to stop the media trying to label us”) Atlanta four-piece The Black Lips, and yes, a lot of it is probably true. The pissing on stage, the vomiting, the nudity and male on male bonding RE: a tongue jammed down the throat, cannot be disputed. Nor their mad-cap live album Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo shot in location in Tijuana, Mexico, where money buys momentary peace from the authorities, drug wars are rife and pimps, prostitutes and thieves walk the streets and seedy back-alleys like wolves on a midnight prowl. Ah, the pen can reveal such exciting truths; but it can also distort the subconscious of the reader. Sometimes one has to dig deeper, like a dog with a bone, to reveal the changing of the guard or the facts behind the facts. In this interview The Black Lips reveal that how they're perceived may be true, but there's far more to them than mere debauchery. They're a band with the same energy live on stage that they showed when pissing in each others mouths, and they still evidently have fond memories of the hedonistic Tijuana but… well, they've matured somewhat. The Black Lips history, their struggle to get signed to a major label and the hard rigours that led to its eventuality, have given them a deeper respect for their music - all too apparent on their last album Good Bad Not Evil. A modern masterpiece; no doubt. Alas, this isn’t merely an interview with bass-guitarist Jared Swilley and drummer Joe Bradley, it’s a morality tale in the vein of: “If at first you don’t succeed, keep fucking trying”… PN: Okay lads, we’ll start with the new single, Bad Kids; I heard through the grapevine that it was inspired by your time in detention centres. Any truth to this or was it inspired by something else? Jared: I think just for getting in trouble as kids - just crap, a lot of vandalism. I mean, I actually had to go to a detention centre but it’s not actually about being in a detention centre. We all hung out together in school and destroyed a lot of things; got drunk a lot. We did pretty good… Well, I guess I didn’t do so good in the end because I got caught, but we had a good run. I’d had a bad week, I got kicked out of school and got arrested a couple of times. PN: What about the other track, Leroy Faster, is it based on any experiences or… Jared: I think its just nonsense that song… Joe: Might be about a crack head who got hold of the wrong stuff. Jared: Yeah I think it’s about a crack head. Joe: There’s a lot of crack in Atlanta. Lots of crack heads too. PN: So what was it like growing up in Atlanta, other than there being shit loads of crack heads; was growing up there an inspiration to your music? Jared: Well we grew-up in a little suburb, so I’d imagine growing up in the city would have been a lot different. I enjoyed where we grew-up because there was a lot of like-minded kids… Joe: Locked up for break… Jared: I think it was maybe an inspiration to our music - cos there was just nothing else to do. I think bands from the suburbs tend to make better music than kids that grew-up in the cities. PN: Your live shows have gained notoriety for being debauched affairs, pissing in each others mouths and the like. When did you first start causing such onstage madness and what inspired you to start doing it? Jared: That was in the very early days when we were still teenagers - like a lot of that stuff doesn’t happen anymore. I mean the shows are still crazy and energetic but mostly it was just, um, being immature and not knowing how to play our instruments - I think that was it. PN: So would you say that you’ve done a lot of growing up? That you’ve matured as band? Joe: A little bit, yeah, well we would hope so… Jared: Not too much! But, um, I don’t know why we did that stuff. I think it was, you know, punk-rock - that’s what you’re supposed to do, so… We were really into The Germs and stuff like that and they were a big influence. We still have the energy we’re just not as dopey anymore. We didn’t want the antics to get in the way of the music. PN: ‘Good Bad Not Evil’ is an extremely diverse album - the way a lot of The Stones albums were in the 60s… Joe: You don’t want to constrict yourself to one type of music; you really disable your career with your ability to evolve as a band. Plus, you get bored if you play the same music all the time - it gets really boring, so we always like to explore new things. Jared: We have a lot of different influences and stuff so they all kind of creep up along the line, you know? PN: Sure… Okay, what’s the story behind the live chicken on stage (Siren Festival), was that some kind of fucked up voodoo ritual or… Jared: (laughs) It was mostly just because… Sometimes at festivals it’s hard to, you know - you’re like a tiny speck to most people, so we got our friend to build this air canon. And it was mostly just an excuse to shoot out tons and tons of feathers but it was supposed to look like we’d put a chicken in a canon and exploded it. The chicken was fine, we used food stamps to buy it at a Puerto-Rican market. The chicken was fine. We set it free in McGolrick Park in Brooklyn; someone probably killed it and ate it. It was just a pretty cool thing to have tons of feathers, like - snowing down! It looked pretty cool. PN: What about Tijuana in Mexico (The Black Lips recorded live album Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo there), that must have been a pretty cool, debauched affair. What was it like playing there and what sort of things did you get up to? Joe: It was cool because, like - over half of the audience were - like, Mexican kids; and we played with this awesome band who came down there. It was a really dangerous place; you had to worry about the people as well as the police - probably the police more. Jared: The police are the most dangerous thing. It’s not such a great place to play shows; we had a good show just because the circumstances were right, but it can go really wrong down there as far as getting robbed or - getting arrested is the worst because they’ll arrest you for anything. We gave everyone eighty bucks in cash when we went down because that’s the going rate for a bribe. PN: Shit. That sounds like Columbia! Jared: Well, just a couple of days ago there was a battle on the street - the street we played on down there - like a big gun battle between local drug gangs. Like, all down the street there was a high-speed chase with people shooting from car to car and, like - thirteen people died. It was pretty hairy down there. The drug wars are getting bad along the border. We had a couple of things stolen and our tour manager got shaken down for eight-hundred bucks, but that’s kind of mild compared to what could have happened. You get stopped a lot - you’d be insane to take your car there; actually some people did but you had to pay someone to guard it - a lot! But we walked over there and on the way back I got stopped, like - three of four separate times. They’ll take everything out of your pockets, take your money, smell your fingers to see if you’ve been smoking joints. When you walk down the streets they’re selling prostitutes and they’ve got, like - sticks in their hands and they jab you in the side… Joe: Like that (makes jabbing motions) ‘CH-CH-CH-CH’ when you walk by… Jared: And we tried to take a picture of them right then and they started blowing all these whistles and waving flags and stuff, and all the prostitutes ran inside and all these guys were blowing whistles to try and distract you. PN: I guess you didn’t have a lot of luck with the Tijuana women then? Jared: No… Joe: You really don’t want to… Jared: It’s pretty much the most hedonistic city. It’s kind of cool that it’s still there because, I mean, San Diego’s just like an affluent Californian, Southern City town, and within a two minute walk you go straight into dirt-ball country. It’s kind of creepy to see middle-aged white men walking round alone there because you know they’re doing horrible things. It’s like a poor mans South-East Asia, I guess… for Americans. PN: So when did you first develop an interest in music? Was there a standout moment of clarity when you realised ‘this is what I want to do?’ Joe: My Mum was real musical in the church so she got me into the choir and shit when I was like, five… Jared: I was kind of the same. My Dad was a musician and I sang in church when I was a kid. But it was mostly, you know - your Beatles and stuff? And knowing about punk bands when I was real small I kind of wanted to be in a band. It was like skateboarding sure got me into it a lot because I’d skate with older kids and they got me into ‘Black Flag’ and stuff like that so… I mean, I really loved punk-rock and ‘Black Flag’ and stuff, but I was really into The Beatles and The Stones so it’s kind of a merger… PN: If I hadn’t been a journalist I’d probably still be working fruit and veg in a supermarket. What would you have done if you hadn’t done music? Joe: Engineering. Jared: I’d probably be either a garbage man or in the army. PN: Back to the live stuff, do you have any pre-stage rituals, touching a cross or going for a massive shit, or do you just get pissed before you head on stage? Joe: We slap our faces and warm-up our voices. Jared: I like to take a shot of whiskey. But we don’t really have any - I don’t know… Some bands pray. Joe: Yeah, or huddle and touch each-others butts. We’re not into that; we just go out there and do it. PN: Some writers, particularly the likes of Ginsberg and Hunter S. Thompson, have been described as outlaw writers. Some people might describe your music as outlaw music, would you agree with that? Jared: I’d agree with that mentality as far as there are a lot of bands around who are cowardly and safe and I don’t think anything artistic should be safe at all. Joe: People conform to too many norms… Normally. Jared: I don’t know - not doing what everyone else is doing and not being afraid to take risks. Joe: Not being a pussy… Jared: Yeah not being a vagina about having to be on the road all the time. Joe: Too many people are waiting for people to lead them in a certain direction and that’s just not the way you’re supposed to do things, you’ve got to find your own way. Jared: Yeah, I get real bent out of shape about a lot of these bands – they put a song on MySpace and they’re huge and they’ve never struggled or had to do anything; it‘s just kind of happened… Joe: How are they supposed to appreciate all that they’ve had when they’ve done nothing to earn it? PN: Sure. I totally agree man. But those bands are mainstream, you know? Don’t you think the mainstream’s an important thing to break into? Joe: No, that’s not true. Jared: Yeah, I like the mainstream. I mean, like - The Beatles were the biggest band in the world but they put in their time in Hamburg and slogging it out in like strip-clubs and stuff like that, so I admire that. But I don’t admire stuff that - if you don’t work for stuff… There’s nothing wrong with being on a major label. You know, maybe if they’re really good they deserve it, but there’s something that bothers me about it. Joe: It’s not them doing the hard work it’s someone else paying someone else to do the hard work for them, and that’s just not something we admire. PN: I guess it makes you stronger as band to go through the shit-run to success, right? To have to slog it out… Jared: Yeah, I mean we had to deal with four years of homelessness and poverty. Joe: Eating out of trash cans and stuff like that… Jared: And more. It just recently got more comfortable. I mean recently we’ve been able to eat and stay in hotels and pay our rent and stuff like that. PN: Man, I guess at that stage you carried on going just for the love of the music? Joe: Yeah. Homeless shelters - I mean basically they were the only thing keeping us going. We didn’t have homes to go back to or like - food to go back to so the only thing we could do is find some way of like - getting to the next show and play it… Get closer to getting home. Sheer determination! Jared: Yeah, sheer determination. And I knew if I went home I’d just be washing dishes and stuff like that. A lot of people would have quit a long time ago. PN: And it’s paid off! I mean you were on the Conan O’Brian show for Christ sake. I read, and I don’t know whether it’s true, that when you were on the show there wasn’t a single crime committed in New York. Jared: (laughs) I never heard that before; that’s awesome. Joe: A ridiculous statistic. Jared: It’s slightly crazy. I think New York’s pretty tame now. It’s pretty safe there; it’s a lot safer in New York than anywhere else. PN: Do you think you have to have some form of rebellion to make good music… Joe: Not necessarily. It doesn’t hurt though. It usually comes down to, like, when things are bad the music’s good and when things are good the music’s bad. Like when Bill Clinton was president, like, that’s when we had all the Backstreet Boys and N-Sync and all that crap; and then when things started going bad, you know, the music got better. Not always at a constant, but that’s normally how it works. Jared: I definitely think that there needs to be some rebellion in good music. I mean, even straight-laced guys - the people who make straight-lace music that my parents like, are fucked-up… Buddy Holly was a total fuck-up! Joe: Yeah, but at the same time in the 80s you had the Yuppie culture come in and that was a rebellion to everything before, like it goes both ways, you know? But you definitely need some kind of something. PN: Okay, so on the theme of rebellion, what about drugs and music? They were synonymous in the 60s - kind of went together hand in hand, to some extent. Do you think they can help with the song-writing process? Joe: It’s more about the perspective. Drugs change your perspective, you know… Jared: I think they could; I don’t necessarily think they have to. I think the only reason they’re synonymous with it is because the type of person who’s usually a musician has that kind of lifestyle – it’s what they’re around all the time. But, I mean - I’ve written good songs drunk before, so… But I think with some characters it probably helps them. I think some people with, like, predispositions to take drugs are probably pre-destined to do something like music or write or paint or something like that. Joe: Yeah, but doing drugs doesn’t necessarily always mean you’re gonna make good music. Jared: Yeah, I think cocaine makes really bad music. Joe: Yeah, unless you’re doing hip-hop. PN: What about the ‘Flower-Punk’ tag that you’ve been categorized into. Was it your idea for your music to be known as ‘Flower-Punk’ or was it a media creation? Joe: We came up with that to combat the media trying to put all types of labels on us. We got called, like, 'garage, rockabilly, punk' or something. They’d gone too far. They love to have a definition of some sort so we just came up with a definition of our own so people would stop keep trying to make up stuff. Jared: I think rock n roll’s a good enough description most of the time. But you know you don’t have to put a label on it, you don’t have to describe it. Some people do it better than others but we just kind of say it as a joke. I think there are probably other ‘Flower Punk’ bands out there now. PN: What about the track ‘How Do You Tell A Child That…’ [A thin guy in a scruffy suit two sizes too big - and a tasteless tie, probably early to mid forties, thin grey hair and a moustache like Graeme Souness circa 1980 - approaches the table with a look of lo-fi excitement strewn across his face] Guy: Are you guys playing tonight? Jared: No, no… Guy: Um, are you in a band? Jared: Yes… Guy: Um, and you’re Kula Shaker? Jared: Yeah… Guy: Come on - what’s the name of your band? Jared: The Black Lips. Guy: What? Jared: The Black Lips… Guy: Um, who? Jared: The Black Lips! Guy: The Black Lips ? Oh… Do you know Kula Shaker? Jared: No. Guy: Oh, well apparently… You know Drink Tea? Well Kula Shaker, um, they covered that. Yeah, Drink Tea, they did that. And, um, they… They had big ‘taches so I just thought… I just thought… PN: Yeah? Man, that’s great, but we’re kind of doing an interview here so… Guy: One of them, um, one of the really great songs had an Indian theme. Yes… Um, which is apparently something to do with King Arthur… [The guy walks over to the bar and takes a seat, smiling at us every now and again as he necks pint after pint after pint. He later asks a sexy blonde if he can take her photograph on his mobile phone - “You look like a model, are you a model” - to which she gives a look of genuine distain] PN: Right. The track ‘How Do You Tell A Child That Someone Has Died’ from Good Bad Not Evil - was that in anyway based on the loss of Ben (Eberbaugh, original band member killed when a drink driver going the wrong way collided with the car he was driving)? Jared: Well, no, no. It’s just about the death of everyone really. I mean, I guess if you put it into… It was mostly an ode to these old trucker sounds - an old genre of country called trucker country; and it was just, like - ballads where they talk over the music. And all of them were like, so heart-retching and depressing but like, so comical. PN: I mean, the only reason I ask is because there’s a section of the song that refers to someone getting killed by a drunk driver ( The teacher you loved Mr. Peterson / Has sadly passed away / He was killed by a motorist in a drunken act of rage )… Jared: Oh yeah! I mean, Cole wrote that and I don’t know whether that was his intentions but we’ve told people that maybe it could be. But it’s just about… We had a load of friends that died, maybe that was… But it’s kind of like a tongue in cheek song. We like to mix black and white together so it’s supposed to be, like, kind of sad but funny at the same time. Joe: I mean it sounds kind of happy, but then the contents are like, really dark, you know? Kind of like black comedy. Black comedy meets white on white crime. PN: I guess not all of your tracks are related to reality then? So how do you come up with songs that come from the subconscious? What’s the song writing process? Joe: We’ll just write songs and then come together in the studio and just show ‘em to each other. Jared: I’ve just written a song. I had just a few minutes to write the lyrics while we were in the studio so I just went through ‘The Song of Solomon’ from the Old Testament and just picked up random sentences from that. I’ve used that ‘Might is Right’ book to pick out, like, brutal things from that. Joe: I’ve got one song I’m writing. I got some lyrics, some words, from a Conservative ‘Right Wing’ talk radio show host. He had some really good one-liners like: “The Violence in Europe is oozing like the pus from a broken scab.” That was a good one. You’ve got to get it where you can. PN: Woah! This morning I read a story about Uma Thurman getting stalked by a fan. Maybe he was a maniac, who knows? Have you had any weird letters, turds in the post, or fans that follow you about in a weird fucking way? Jared: We’ve got some creepy fans. We’ve got a lot of kids who follow us around. Most of them are nice - you know, they’re just not, like, creepy. But we’ve definitely had some people that creep me out that I avoid. If I know they’re gonna be there I’ll hide! Joe: Yeah, they creep you out, you know? You’ll be standing there, you’ll start to shiver, you feel a chill up and down your spine, you’ll turn around and the person’s just standing there. Just like that... Jared: It hasn’t been so much any more, but we used to have like, old men following us around. Lately it’s been nicer because it’s just like, teenage girls, and that’s harmless. I’ve had kids say things to me that scare me; we have these like, crazy teenage boys, and I was sort of like that at their age - but they say really depraved things and they think we’re crazy and stuff like that. That freaks me out. I don’t wanna like, make some kid shoot himself or do heroin and stuff. Some kid thanked me the other day - saying he dropped acid for the first time and he was saying like, “Thank you, I dropped acid for the first time because of you.” I don’t know how I feel about that… I don’t feel too good about that… PN: You can’t blame yourself for that shit though. So how do you chill-out away from all that crap – away from the music? Jared: When I’m at home I play tennis or I BBQ. Yeah - tennis and BBQ. I’m not as good as John McEnroe - I’m not as angry as John McEnroe. I wanna start playing golf more to; I think that’d be really relaxing. But we never have time at home; when I’m at home I’ll be working on other music projects. Joe: Yeah, that’s usually the way it is. I’ll do some yard work; it feels nice doing a bit of work on your yard. Jared: I take online Spanish classes but I’ve been really slacking on it... Joe: Normally when I get home I gotta clean up my house because my room mates are kind of messy. I like to get it nice and clean so I can relax. I’ve got three room mates, it’s the only way I can like, afford to be on tour. It’s a nice house but you’ve gotta find some ways to cut corners. Jared: I share an apartment with my girlfriend so we split it. PN: Any amusing stories from your recent tour? Jared: I’m trying to think of anything funny happening. The tour we just got back from was pretty uneventful as far as… PN: I guess that’s what you were saying about growing up a bit, right? Joe: Well normally on our tours we have more time but on these last European tours all our drives were like, eight or ten hours between shows; we tried to party but then we’d have to get up at like eight-thirty in the morning so we couldn’t really hang-out and have as many funny times as usual. PN: Finally, what about a new album, any plans or details you can reveal? Jared: Yeah, we’re taking the majority of the summer off to record a new album; we have to find out where we’re recording it though. PN: Any song ideas at the moment or any that you’ve already got? Jared: I think everyone has ideas. I kind of like it when it just kind of flies by and you go in there without really knowing what to do and… Joe: It keeps things fresh. If you play the same song over and over again and then try and record them you usually find that they’re normally pretty stale… Jared: The way we did our third album I really enjoyed - the one before, Good Bad Not Evil, because a lot of that was written that week. Like - we just came up with a lot of stuff right before it. And I don’t know about the rest of the guys but I tend to work better under pressure, like, when you have to do something. If I’m sitting around with a guitar all day and it’s like, “Oh, I have to write a song” then I probably won’t, but if it comes down to the wire then I’m better at doing that. Joe: I think everyone works better under pressure… Well not everyone. Highly strung people don’t work well under pressure. If you have a deadline to meet it depends on how determined you are. If you have determination then you’ll work harder and work better towards your goal. Words: Dangerous Dave! Photograph of Jared, Joe, and Dangerous courtesy of the Kula Shaker fanatic! Bad Kids is released on Vice Records on May 12th. Check out the Black Lips MySpace page!
tags: | the black lips | good ban not evil | los valientes del mundo nuevo | jared swilley | more...
Sugar Blue: A true harp hero!
Sugar Blue: A true harp hero!
15/04/2008
There’s no business like show business, you often hear them say: “Its so glitz and so damn glam”. The thing with the showbiz game is that we tend to skim over the surface; we don’t look beyond the bright white veneers, diamond rings, jet black hair, personal number plates, poodles with designer jackets, champagne breakfasts and white fur coats. I’m certain it’s a mask; a front to preserve the public image of perfect mother, sister, husband, brother, presenter, actor, actress, fucker. Music’s the same; we’ve got a tendency to ignore so many aspects of music and song. A tendency to hear what we want to hear. It’s like we don’t want to get our hands dirty and dig deeper; to find out who’s responsible for that piano intro or harmonica solo because whoever it is bares no relevance to us. Who cares? The old English spirit of caring died when people started singing about drive-by killings and gang war with the same relish Sir Cliff sang about Summer Holidays. One such guy, a guy you’ve probably heard but haven’t heard of, an amusing, engaging and humble New Yorker - rated as the greatest harmonica player by legends in the business - is Sugar Blue. He’s a master of his art and a guy you really should be aware of. Sugar’s played with everyone from Fats Domino to Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan to Ray Charles, the Rolling Stones to Buddy Guy, and he talks about such encounters in this very interview. I caught up with Sugar on a rare London visit as part of his Code Blue album tour. We sat in a small, cramped dressing room as I sucked on a Stella and Sugar reminisced on his career, the state of the music business and learning to master his art… When did you first start playing the harmonica and what attracted you to the instrument? Well I started playing harmonica when I was about, I dunno, fifteen or sixteen years old. My introduction to the instrument was through my aunt, who bought me one, and then my mother took me to see little Stevie Wonder who was about eleven or twelve at the time, and that was it. I was like: “Wow, I can do this.” I started playing around with Dylan records and The Rolling Stones came along and I was playing along with that. There was a Stones record; I think it was… What was the name of that record? Decembers Children! They did a Muddy Waters song and I heard that and I went to check out the author of the song and when I found out the author was McKinley Morganfield, Muddy Waters, I went and picked up some of his music at the library. And I heard Little Walter on the harmonica and that was it; I knew that I WANTED TO DO THAT! How did you learn the harmonica though, it’s a pretty tough instrument to master, right? You know - all instruments have a certain degree of difficulty when it comes to the technicality of learning to make the instrument speak. Harmonica is particularly difficult because you can’t see what’s happening while it’s being played; you know? You see two hands in front of the face and that’s all you see. On the inside of every harmonica, at least back in those days, there used to be a little piece of paper that showed you the technique that was required. I looked at that little piece of paper and ignored it [laughs] much to my chagrin. Because about ten years later a guy told me, Bill Dicey, a great harmonica player from New York City said: “If you want to sound like Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, you know that little piece of paper in there? That’s the way they do it” [laughs]. So I had to start all over again from scratch, okay? I thought I really was good, you know, and then I had to go back to square one. But, I’m glad I did. It’s not a difficult instrument. But like any other instrument does it requires love and dedication. You know; I mean the same thing your girlfriend wants: Love and dedication, man! [Much laughter] When did you first start playing to an audience? Other than relatives obviously… I started playing in Central Park, you know? They used to call them ‘be-ins’; there’d be huge gatherings of people - everybody playing an instrument. Nobody gave a damn how good or how bad you played, everybody just got together; it was like a communal thing, you know? People bought bongos and percussion instruments and guitars and jaw-harps - those things that go ‘boing-boing-boing-boing!’ We’d start playing at like, ten or twelve in the afternoon, and it would go on way after sunset. This was the 60s, okay? I never thought about practicing, I didn’t think of it as practicing or working, I just thought: “I wanna be able to hit that note, sound better and sound good with the guys and stuff”. When all the hippies disappeared I was just like: “GEE-WHIZZ, I WAS JUST STARTING TO HAVE FUN! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PARTY?” [Laughter] [Laughing] Yeah man, good times… Yeah! So, I ran into some guys that were still playing and some old blues cats like Charles Walker, and they said: “Well why don’t you come down and play with us?” And they were playing at a little blues club, well it wasn’t necessarily a blues club, it was a place called the Fat Black Pussycat where Jimi Hendrix used to play. So I started working with them and I think that was the first time I played in front of an audience. It was fun, we had good times, I think I made about ten bucks and I said: “What? That’s the most enjoyable ten dollars I’ve ever made!” Then I started listening to a lot of Sonny Boy Williamson and reading about the history of blues guys on the road. And I said: “Well, hey; these boys used to just set-up on the street corner and play, why can’t we do that?” So we started doing that and suddenly I started making like, two, three, four-hundred bucks a day - on a really great day we could pull in five or six-hundred bucks! I was like - “Shit!” That was a lot of money back in 1971-72. It I’d work all summer long, save money, and chill! In a Stones book I read there’s a quote by Ronnie Woods claiming you were discovered playing on the streets of France by either Mick or Keith and they were so impressed they took you on for the ‘Some Girls’ album… Is there any truth to that? Well I’ll tell you what, if Woody said it, Woody don’t lie! Woody… That’s my boy, you know? I LOVE RONNIE WOOD AND I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS IT! [Laughs] That’s my boy - he’s a good guy man a real good guy. Sweet guy, great guitar player - plays a hell of a good harmonica by the way! I really enjoyed the time that I spent with those guys; it was a real trip… Ronnie also compared the way you play harmonica to snapping a guitar neck in half and playing both halves separately… [Sugar laughs]… I mean, to play harmonica, and get that range of sound out of it, you usually need more than one harmonica. Where did you learn to create such a range of sound with just the one harmonica? Well I’ll tell you the truth man, I listened to the old guys. People like Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and Jimmy Wells. Man they were making all that noise back before amplifiers, okay? They were raising pure hell with a harmonica. When I heard what Big Walter could do with a harmonica, just plain and simple in his hands - in your face, I was… What’s the word you guys say? Gob-smacked!? I was flabbergasted; I couldn’t believe it, you know? I mean such powerful sounds, so much volume and such a beautiful tone. These guys were doing that long before I even thought about it. I’ve just tried to continue in the footsteps that they already laid and add my little bit to it. How did it feel though, to be invited to play on the ’Some Girls’ album? At the time the Stones were - in fact they probably still are, the biggest band ever… Well I’ll tell you man, I kept almost running into Mick Jagger in New York for years. I would play a gig and he would show-up an hour after we left; and this happened about three or four different times. I said: “Somewhere or sometime or another I’m gonna play with these guys, because all of these almost meetings means that something’s going to happen in the future.” When it happened I was like: “YYEEESSS!” [Much laughter] Getting the work with them was really a gas man; I had a lot of fun. A “gas, gas, gas.” [Sugar laughs] Were you surprised by the success of the album - and the single as well? ‘Miss You’ reached number one in… ‘Miss You’ was number one worldwide! It was the top man. It was… How do you say it? It was the TOP OF THE POPS! [Laughs] I mean I thought it was a great song when we cut-it. I said: “Man, this is jamming, this is the best thing.” For me it was the best thing on the record. I said: “Well this shit could do well.” I had no idea that it would do as well as it did; I don’t think they did either. [Laughter] The Stones went in a completely different direction with ‘Miss You’ than I think they ever had before. It’s certainly more disco oriented than… Yeah, yeah - it had a disco groove and it had that kind of little Stonesy edge they always had. It cracked with everybody. I mean it crossed generations, it crossed racial divides - everybody loved that song. That’s one of the things I like about music. It unites people when it’s really good. When it’s really special it unites people that would never think they had anything in common. That’s one of the beautiful things about music. What was it like to record with the Stones though? Oh they were great man. It was like: “HEY, COME ON OVER MAN, LET’S DO SOME OF THIS. OKAY, NOW IT’S TIME TO RECORD. OKAY, HAD ENOUGH OF THIS? OKAY, THAT’S COOL. OKAY, BACK TO THE STUDIO - HEY PUT THAT OUT! COME OVER HERE! [Laughter] ALRIGHT, NOW WE’RE GONNA GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!” And Mick would be prowling around like this: [Mock Jagger tone] “It takes ‘em forever, it takes ‘em forever to come on in!” And then it was like “HAS ANYBODY SEEN KEITH?” [Much laughter] Before I move on from the Stone there’s just one more question. What was behind your decision to pull out of the ‘Some Girls’ tour? You know, they had their thing to do and I had my thing to do. Let’s face it - DO I LOOK LIKE A ROLLING STONE TO YOU? [Laughs] I don’t think so; you know, they do what they do and… Mick plays harp and I think he wanted to get back to his harp playing. I had songs that I wanted to do that I couldn’t do with them too, you know? It was great meeting them and it helped me to get known and to get a chance at my first record deal and, you know, worldwide press and notoriety… Hey, if they’re ever on tour again and they say they need a harp I’ll be there, because it was great for me and I think it was great for them. If they ever give the call, I’ll play, you know? Stones aside, the list of people you’ve played with… Ray Charles, you know, and Stevie Wonder and… Good god man, Dylan… Yeah, and Bob Dylan was a huge inspiration to you as well… Well, I mean, it was great. Bob is such a generous, unimposing - I would say even humble man. You’d go into the studio with him and he’d be like [imitating Bob]: “Okay we’re, err, gonna play this, okay… Are you ready…? Are you ready?” And it’d be like ‘ding-ding-ding’ - “GOD-DAMN-IT!” BOING! And Bob’s broke a string. “Aye, wait a minute, somebody get me some strings.” We’d sit there and laugh and talk and jive around and by the time we got ready to record there was no more nerves, you know, because Bob just made everybody feel so secure. I met him through a wonderful lady, Victoria Spivey. Actually Victoria Spivey discovered him, okay? She introduced him to the guy who at the time was head of Columbia Records. She introduced us and she acted like everybody’s mum! So she was like: “I want you to meet my son.” So I go with her and she introduces me to Bob Dylan and I was like “You’re son?” “Yes, my son, YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THAT?” “No mam!” [Laughs] Bob acted like that was mama; so that was cool. So we were like brothers, sitting there in the studio trying to work out: “How did she do that?” [Laughs] Tell us about Fats Domino and friends? Oh Fats Domino and Friends; that was great, you know? I mean to get to play with Fats Domino and Ray Charles and Ronnie Wood and some of the other cats that were there man, that was really a great, great pleasure. Actually I think… What was this guy’s name? Played piano? Great Balls of Fire? Jerry Lee-Lewis - yeah Jerry Lee-Lewis was there too. I had a ball. Shit, how can you not enjoy yourself man, surrounded by some of the best musician’s planet wide? I never dreamt that I would have the opportunities that I’ve had and I’m very thankful to the muses and the music itself for giving me the life that I’ve always dreamt of. Let’s talk about the Grammy’s… What was it like to be involved in winning two separate Grammy’s? Well I didn’t even know we were gonna win a Grammy, you know? I did the record in Switzerland at the Montreux Jazz Festival. At the time it was called the Montreux Jazz Festival. That’s before they got hip and dropped the Jazz. I think Koko Taylor was there, Ricky Lee Jones was there… (The door directly behind Blue swings open, hitting the back of his chair, sharply. A young, rugged French guy with greasy dreadlocks peers through and apologises as Blue turns to face him) ALRIGHT! YOU DON’T LIKE ME, I CAN TELL! [Followed by much laughter] (The French guy asks where he can smoke. Blue and I tell him you can only go outside. The French guy thanks us and starts rummaging around in the room for a can of Coke before leaving) Ricky Lee Jones was there and… let me see… Brandford Marsalis and his brother the trumpet player; I can’t think of his name now. B. B. King was there; a lot of really great players. I think Stevie Ray Vaughn was there - and it was great man. Actually the real bomb was the jam session, which nobody recorded! Well somebody recorded it but I think they better not put it on record or somebody’s going to jail [laughs]. I remember I had to follow Stevie Ray Vaughn as a solo act, just me and my harmonica. I’m like: “What the hell am I supposed to after all that god damn - RRROAWL !” And he was like: “Just go out there and do what you do” - so I did. And the record won a Grammy, much to my surprise. When they presented it to me I was surprised, but very gratified and appreciative. Blue, I’m going to talk about harmonicas as a modern instrument. I know you’re a modest guy, but you‘re regarded as one of the best harmonica players of the last century… Well gee-whiz, that’s nice to know! [Laughs] You are - but that only seems to be among certain harmonica, blues and music enthusiasts. When you started playing the harmonica was a popular instrument, do you think the reason it’s less popular now is due to the modern audience and… Well I’ll tell you what man, when I was a kid the harmonica wasn’t very popular – it really wasn’t. It was very rare that it was played that much. I mean Bob Dylan played it a little bit, Stevie Wonder played it, but outside of those guys it wasn’t really that well known. Jagger played some and stuff but it wasn’t really looked at as an important instrument, you know? What, you mean in the mainstream? Because obviously it was widely used in traditional blues? Well, you know, there were some guys like Big Walter and Little Walter and Sonny Boy and stuff, but these guys weren’t really known to a large audience. They were basically known to the blues audience and some rockers. You know when harmonica really popped back onto the scene? I think it really came back with ‘Miss You’ - okay? When that harp part sounded in people’s ears and the solo part, people were going: “What the hell is that?” I’m glad to have been a part of that - I think it really brought the harmonica back to the forefront of music. [Blues phone rings and he excuses himself, leaves the room and re-enters about a minute later] [Speaking on phone] Okay… Well, good, man. I’ve got to go man, I’ll talk to you later - I’ve gotta go. [Hangs-up phone] Man I shouldn’t have done that. [Laughs] You’ve made the blues sound your own; given a certain funk to it. Was that your own interpretation or… Well I remember way back when I was trying to sound like Little Walter. There was a guitar player called Larry Johnson, who I’ll never forget as long as I live. I was doing my best Little Walter copy licks and I thought I had gotten as close to Little Walter as anybody was gonna get. Larry told me, he says: “You know, you sounded exactly like Walter tonight”. I said “Yeah” and I was feeling all great and he says: “But god-damnit I’m not Muddy Waters and I don’t need that kind of shit.” He said: “Now find something - Little Walter lived and died making that his sound! Now, you see that fine sound, if you can’t find your own sound, find another job!” From that day on I started trying to find my own sound. That was very handy - it was very important. I’ll never forget it because… He shocked me; he really did shock me and he was right to. You’ll never sound as good as somebody else doing there own style. You have to come up with your own style. Its like ‘damn’, you know? If you don’t have anything to say that’s important enough to say your way - shut up! [Laughs] You’ve been touring the Code Blue tour for sometime now, how’s it been going? Hey man, it’s been doing very well. We’ve just come back from doing a tour of the United States… We continued the tour in Italy and we’ve also been up to Switzerland. We’re heading for Hungary soon. It’s going well, you know? We’ve finally got to drop in on the Queen’s realm and to see how her son and stuff dig what we’re doing. And by the way old girl, you’re invited if you wanna show up!? [Laughs] I’m of the opinion that unless you’re inspired by older records, music isn’t particularly inspiring now. During the era you started playing would you say it was decidedly more so? So many people… I mean the music has become such an industrial monster that it tends to… It dehumanises it! It’s like “If I’m not a perfect little tart with plastic boobies, you know, and a thousand dollar hair-cut I can’t be an artist”. I’m sorry, that’s not the way it goes. At least not in my day... Are there any modern acts you particularly like? Well, I don’t know how modern they are but I love Stevie Wonder; I love Prince… let me see… I mean, I’m an old school kind of guy. You know with a lot of the new stuff man, there’s just not enough melody; there’s not enough meaning. I don’t know, maybe I’ve gotten too old that I don’t get it. But to me, just having your nosed pierced doesn’t make you a musician, you know? I remember back when Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix and all that kind of stuff was on and it was like “Guitar players forgot how to play the fucking guitar! Now all they do is slam-it, they put a bunch of effects on it, but they don’t know how to solo; they don’t know how to use the instrument to speak!” I say that’s a great loss musically - I don’t envy the youth of today and the music that they have. I don’t. But that’s life. But I figure like this: After a while they get tired of all that noise and then expect some music from the people they’re listening to. But they’re not going to get it until they expect it. Finally, any plans to collaborate or tour again in the future? Well actually I’ve got a thing that’s coming up with [former Stone and solo artist] Mick Taylor. We’re going to be doing a thing together here soon. Keep an eye on my website and you’ll see it coming up. Or look on his website and I’m sure you’ll see it there… And that just about sums it up; unless there’s anything you’d like to add? Keep rocking! To find out more about Sugar Blue, including a biography, discography, tour dates and news visit www.sugar-blue.com Words: Dangerous Dave Dryden
tags: | sugar blue | fats domino | frank zappa | bob dylan | ray charles | the rolling stones | more...
A Murmur with Mulletover promoter DJ Geddes!
A Murmur with Mulletover promoter DJ Geddes!
09/04/2008
Mulletover has long been at the forefront of the underground party scene. Whether indoor car parks or abandoned warehouses, for the last four years Mulletover has simply been the best. “A number one, king of the hill, top of the heap” as Old Blue Eyes once sang. Legendary. What, with fellow Mulletover promoter and house legend Rob Hives venturing into the pub game (he’s recently reopened The Star of Bethnal Green) it was about time partner in crime DJ Geddes took-up a side-project of his own. Let’s face it, it was never going to be origami, or Warhammer, or bird watching with Bill Oddie. No. Geddes has created his own record label, and the man has high ambitions, as Planet Notion found out… Mulletover’s come a long way since it first started four years ago - where do you think the success behind it all lies? By doing something different to what everybody was doing, or still doing. Going to the same club night every month can become a little boring; same venue, same music and same people, it’s nice to change things round, change the elements that make the party. For us, moving venue every party works, it keeps the excitement there, not just for the people who come and enjoy themselves but also for Rob and I; if were still doing the same club for nearly 4 years I think we both would be pretty bored. How did you first get involved with Mulletover? I organized the first Mulletover party that was due to take place at the Fortress Studios off Old Street. At the time the owners were having grief from local authorities and on the week of the event The Fortress, sadly was unable to host the party. Through the grape vine we heard Rob, who at the time was running his own event called R House was having another illegal rave down in Whitechapel. A few phone calls were made and it became apparent Rob had a spare room in the venue he was using, we joined the party, got smashed, had an amazing after party and decided to do it all again. From then on we decided to work under the same banner and form a partnership - Mulletover Would you say the night has brought new life into the underground/warehouse party scene? Some would say that due to a crackdown on illegal warehouse parties it was in a slow decline before Mulletover came along? I think we did inject some life into the scene, but we weren’t the only ones. When we started there were lots of little illegal parties happening every week like Dove Bridge Studios, djscandance, Slack Alley et cetera; I remember it being a really vibrant time in East London back then. I think we stood out because when things started to get tough we continued along the same path, we both wanted the night to be successful and we knew where it could go. I suppose today is a reflection of our vision You’re just about to release the first 12” on your very own label - Murmur Records. How did this come about? I’ve promoted parties for a while and I suppose I wanted something new to get my teeth into. Running a record label never really crossed my mind, especially considering today’s market, but it feels right and I’m excited with the prospect. It’s something new and the typical model for running a record label no longer exists; this I particularly find interesting, because music is isn’t going anywhere, its just the way in which we receive it that’s changing. Instead of the ‘Product’ being rammed down our throat by the industry, music is becoming more of an experience, we have more choice and this can only be a good thing. Is Murmur an attempt to further broaden your personal musical landscape? I love music and I do what I do because I’m really into it and wouldn’t change that for anything; starting Murmur is cementing my commitment to something I love, I see it as the next stage in my career. Is there an ongoing theme for Murmur records or is it set to cover a diverse range of music? For the moment we plan to stick to a club sound that reflects the style of music I’m into. In the fullness of time I would love to broaden our musical spectrum and delve into different genres and areas that excite me. What are your hopes for the future of the label? In the future Murmur will be one of the top labels around, it will be recognised for its music, artists, ideas, vision and creativity. Murmur will be at the forefront of house and techno, setting standards and implementing innovation. I want to change the way we operate to a modern path; the typical record label model no longer works. I want to mould a new foundation, a new way of working that will inspire others to get involved. For further information on Murmur Records, regular updates and all-round news visit: www.murmurrecords.com www.myspace.com/murmurrecords www.mulletover.co.uk
tags: | geddes | murmur records | the star of bethnal green | rob hives | r house | more...
When Dangerous Dave met Anton Newcombe
When Dangerous Dave met Anton Newcombe
11/03/2008
Surely you’ve seen DiG!? The greatest rock ‘n’ roll documentary, like, ever. Certainly a supreme contender alongside Cocksucker Blues; though in fairness, Cocksucker Blues was banned because it was so wrought with the kind of - “we can‘t have our kids watching this filth” - material you‘d expect from the Stones in the peak of a drug-ingested heroin haze. In fact, the Stones felt they were portrayed badly and so banned CB themselves, which is why it’s an interesting point in relation to Anton Newcombe. Anyway, the fact is that if Newcombe, the wild, eccentric, genius of American underground garage band the Brian Jonestown Massacre (BJM), had his way, DiG! (tracking the BJM on the road with the Dandy Warhol’s with ‘rock star’ incidents around every fucking corner and under every crack) would be banned. Or would it? See, Newcombe’s a kind of contradictory study. On the one hand he feels betrayed by the documentary film’s makers, who he claims “misrepresented” his character (drugs and fighting and tantrums and the like), and on the other hand DiG’s being re-released as a special edition DVD to coincide with the release of the BJM’s new album ‘My Bloody Underground’ (MBU). This is either a very clever PR stunt by the Brian Jonestown Massacre, or a means of cashing in on the new album (the original subject matter of this interview) by the makers of DiG. In which case Anton’s probably pretty pissed-off because he does have a tendency to snap. (I say original subject of this interview because like all the best laid plans the new album became buried under verbal onslaughts and any structure went belly-up). In fact, DiG! and ‘My Bloody Underground’ are released so close together, they’re practically touching nipple. Anyway, here’s the lowdown. Anton’s an ex-junky, who hates people breaking his sitar “man” and has an ego that’s, like, a cross between Liam Gallagher’s testicles and Axl Rose's bell-end. Alas, the BJM’s music is fucking great, and they have like thirteen full-length LP's, delving into everything from psychedelic rock to world music, and every in-between you could possibly find along the way. ‘Their Satanic Majesties Second Request’ (paying homage to the Stones’ psychedelic masterpiece ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request‘) is literally a work of brilliance. Anyway, Planet Notion caught up with Newcombe to talk, rant, and almost fight in a sort of “wildly anticipating a verbal onslaught because the photographer guy from another mag told me Anton threatened to kill him”, kind of way. If you don’t read this “you’re not gonna make it to the tube station man” because I, or Anton (who was apparently hitting the vodka throughout the interview day), will kill you. Only kidding; though, seriously, Anton might actually kill you……… Have you seen DiG!? First of all, MBU is the first album that you’ve produced... that you’ve recorded, for four years… Not really, I did an EP and I’ve been producing other people’s records too, and raising a son and doing all that good stuff; and travelling and playing, y’know? Getting acquainted with all of Europe and all that stuff, y’know? Yeah, you produced the album in Europe, how was that? Ah - It was the best, I had my own studio, y’know? And I had the keys to many peoples studios, and it’s just like… It’s easier to kind of control people I think, from like, fucking off and being like “Oh, my girlfriend just called, she says she’s gonna screw the next door neighbour”, or something, “and I can’t do the bass track”. It’s just easier to be in another environment and, I don’t care if the people I play with live show-up or don’t show-up to do records, that’s not important, y’know? You can just pull people out of a pub and make a midnight choir. If you get the right people, y’know? You’re just, like, “let’s do this!” Yeah, London‘s a good place for pulling people out of a pub, you know? Like, for a good old-fashioned knee’s up and stuff… Well, I was talking for a long time about doing something over here… I might end up doing it in Oxford, I don’t know, but I’m gonna work on that; I’m working on five albums right now. It would be great to come over here and do it; if we could get people to just work for… just… Look, it’s not like working in Boots or something, just: “Thirty-minutes, hmm, okay we’ve got the track let’s go” , pump, pump, pump and work like that, y’know? It’s different. Sure, it needs care and it’s got to be right. Because you’re a bit of a perfectionist… Well, just don’t just let it rip, y’know, when you’re working? No talking, no arguing, no hashing it out - NO TALKING! Mmm, and the new album's taken a different musical direction, right? From how the Brian Jonestown Massacre have approached material in the past. I mean, the title, ‘My Bloody Underground’ suggests that you’ve taken the music on this album in a similar direction to ‘My Bloody Valentine’… Erm, well, y’know, I have videos before they had that band, of… Y’know, when they started they sounded like ‘The Cramps’, y’know and I’m full into Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine guitarist/singer). But the album has nothing to do with them specifically… Not taking anything away from Kevin because he’s a genius and he touched people on a way deeper level, I think, than I have. I don’t know, but I assume, y’know? Erm, I guess, if that’s your opinion… Yeah, just kind of, just a little bit. And people are really interested in Kevin’s stuff; it’s just a different animal in a way to the album (MBU). Like a kindred spirit - just a different beast. In the way that a Cheetah’s different from a Tiger. Hey, you’ve got fangs; speaking of that, you’ve got fangs! I’m like a fucking vampire… Well, you know, I’m not afraid of the night. Anyway, like ’My Bloody Valentine’, it seems that with the new album you’ve drawn upon the ‘Shoegaze’ era of … Well, Mark Gardner from Ride, but… I don’t know what that means because I don’t really look at my shoes, y'know? Zipping laser beams and communicating with other planets is really a completely different thing… I just like all kinds of stuff… Y’know, we recorded videos to everything? From the new album? The new album, EP’s, everything; we’re making videos for everything, and they’re all on YouTube. You can just download them right now; you don’t have to buy the record. But it’s not in the same state, it’s just in one state. But it’s automatic music for the people… So, you’re moving towards the whole Radiohead ‘In Rainbows’ download thing? THEY MOVED TOWARDS ME! All our music’s been online for years, we had 90 million downloads, Radiohead copied me! I’m friends with Perry-Watts Russell - that signed them - they don’t give a good-god -damn! I did the greatest mash-up ever! I did the Chemical Brothers ‘Don’t Hold Back’ on top of ‘A Place for Everything and Everything in it’s Place’ [Radiohead: ‘Everything in it’s Right Place’] and blew everyone off the planet! Yeah, but then you’re not really recognised for that… I don’t want to be recognised! Why would I want to be recognised? I’ve got my beautiful wife right here, my Welsh beauty, do you think we want to be hassled by a load of kids? You see where it got Britney Spears right; and Winona Ryder and, erm, Amy Winehouse and all these fucks? Yeah, but I think that all the attention on Amy Winehouse is because she’s a talented artist as opposed to… I don’t. But then I’m an actual artist. I’m not a guy in a record shop, or a journalist, and so… I think she’s good for business obviously, but, whatever. It can be a lot of things and be art. It could be a sculpture; it could be many things to different people. It could be, erm, you know there was that song? [Adopts posh English accent] “I know a song that’s driving everyone insane / I know the song that’s driving everyone…” Well you know where that’s from? It’s from when they were marching out the trenches in World War One and someone said “Stiff upper lip” to all these mustard-gas, bloody-eyed guys, a teenager arm-in-arm. And he said let’s sing “My eyes have seen the glory” and somebody just said - “This is ridiculous…” They were like “I’m blind from a German mustard-gas attack and I’m coughing up blood and you’re telling me to sing ‘My eyes have seen the glory’ because you guys are just, like, being jerks”. And somebody started singing it and that’s why the Rugby guys sing it in the pub. And that’s like reality. And Amy Winehouse will never write a song or anything spiritually on that level… And that’s like beans on toast right there… For 50p… Anyway, let‘s talk about ‘My Bloody Underground’… What are you into? There’s so many beautiful women in London, I can’t understand why you’d be sitting here talking to a man. But whatever you’re into. But, think of the women!? What about the woman in Camden town? Top of the double decker bus - straight into the overhead. Could you imagine reading The Sun; you’re looking at the Page 3 girl and - 'BAM' - it’s a roman arch straight in your FACE! You’re laying in the street, Camden markets burnt down, what are you gonna do? How blue are your eyes by the way? Pretty fucking blue. As blue as blue could go… [At this point Anton and I retire outside for a cigarette break, leaving his Welsh beauty alone but for our empty glasses. Anton seems quite tense and, after stubbing out his cigarette, hurries back to his maid. When I return the BJM frontman is fondling a list of my interview questions and decides to read through them whilst I order another whiskey] Your Uni, I don’t care where you went, didn’t prepare you for hyper-intelligence so here we go… ‘I’m not trying to blow you or anything, but it’s a good return. How does it feel to be back in the studio?’ Well, y’know, it’s a very interesting experience and I’ve been recording the whole time, for a great many band, I just don’t like to talk about it, so… Yeah, well, we did that one but then you started talking about my teeth and my eyes and fangs and stuff… ‘And the highs and the lows of‘… Erm, I know that people aren’t going to understand this work, but it’s music, you’re supposed to listen to it. You don’t even have to understand Van Gogh to enjoy his pictures or why he cut-off his ear and there’s a painting of him with a bandage… That’s just reality. It’s like “How can you own a sunset?” Literally, y’know, you don’t have to. And perspective… Not every setting sun that drops below the water is drowning - it’s just your perspective. Right... Talking about DiG! they’re getting sued by my barrister, so… Then why is it being re-released on special edition to… [Holding up hand - agitated] EXCUSE ME! Mid-sentence my good man! They’re getting sued for, erm, absolutely misrepresenting the facts. So I’m waiting ’til both of the two people… I’m waiting until these toddlers are an age when they can sleep in cars because I’m taking their houses away. They’re automatically losing their houses… Because, y'know, that shit got busted for LSD, NOT ME! I basically saved her car with a 'masonic shake' and that’s basically it in a nutshell. Next! The question is ‘ Do you thrive for perfection in your bandmates’… NO! Anton, about that question, can I just say… NO! I DON‘T DO THIS! THIS IS A PRIVELEGE NOT A RIGHT! You cool your boots! Let’s be honest about the question… I’m being honest. No… Yes, yes, yes, YES! YOU WILL MIND YOUR SPACE and minimum decorum is required! I am granting you this privilege; IT IS NOT A RIGHT! Can I join you for a drink after the interview? No you can’t… Just briefly? No you can’t… Can I say goodbye? That’s fine. Whatever you want! Okay, carry on. Okay, just chill-out. I’m really good at this, you’re not as good at fighting as me, I swear to god. [Anton raises a clenched fist and points towards it clearly agitated] LOOK AT THAT FUCKING PURPLE HEART MAN!? You don’t wanna feel it! Yeah, well I have scars, I’m not a good person! YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT TO THE TUBE STOP! You need to cool your boots and listen. ‘ Do you still thrive for perfection in your bandmates?’ NO! Actually I chose a load of roommates, retards actually, because I thought it was hilarious that we all, erm, are broken to make, erm, an inverse to everybody looking cool and dressing in Rolling Stones shirts and instead have people that could barely function and blowing away everybody that just went down in flames… Erm… Now, excuse me, just listen; this’ll be interesting, you might just learn something. “What would you say to those people that say DiG! helped bring the Brian Jonestown Massacre into the public gaze?” Well, the first thing is, they only helped, they didn’t do the work. They just bought a fucking video or viewed it. That says more about the individual…There’s lots of people… We’ve done a lot of things, y’know? We’ve helped a lot of bands. So that’s nothing to do with anything. What about me and my friend invented MySpace? What would you say about every fucking band using MySpace? I’d say that… OKAY! SO THERE! I just didn’t take three-hundred-and-sixty-five million for it! I’m not into that, we just used a social-networking, erm, model and I took it to the next level from Friendster and before that from Spark paths to that. And I’ve been using it from the beginning of computer dating and you can look back to Kraftwerk in 76 with computer lab. EXCUSE ME! And I was using PG Wave forms in 1979. So end of discussion. You don’t even know, you weren’t even born when I was using computers, so you’re an echo of me! Okay, so here we go. “ What do you make from the adulation you’ve received from pretty high places, Iggy Pop for example?” I AND GREG SHAW own all of IGGY POP’S BACK CATALOGUE! So, Iggy understands that! Greg Shaw started Bomp [records], we’re co-owners of that! Greg’s dead - my godson Tristan and I own all of Iggy’s shit. Besides the electro remixes that were tame enough for public. PERIOD! On the subject of Iggy… He’s great, he should be an inspiration to you. Okay, “ You’ve taken a new direction with this album, is it your view that music shouldn’t be confined by boundaries?” Of course, it is open to interpretation just like the Louvre is and everything in it. I really don’t like the headphone tour of it where you’re boogieing down with somebody explaining to you what to think about the paintings. You should really make your own mind up about that stuff. “Okay let’s talk about commercial bands versus non-commercial bands. I’m not talking the likes of Radiohead or The White Stripes, I’m talking about the whole hip-hop boom…” Me and Matt Dike created, y’know, Delicious Vinyl, that bought… Y’know, the ghetto boys and all that stuff. I bought the drum set that Kevin [?] played the hip-hop beat on that started the sampling, that started the Chemical Brothers. So we’re way ahead of you! Pro-tools? I was using sound-designer - all over this stuff - before Rick Rubin and all that crap! So California all the way… You're obviously a fan of Brian Jones. Do you think he was unfairly treated by the Rolling… I think they’re equal parts arsehole and you cannot confuse the artist with the art. And… I just know he was murdered by their whole organisation; I’ll just leave it at that so… I don’t know what you think is fair… “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve seen the Viper Room footage, and you can be quite cruel to band mates?” Well, you didn’t see what happened about the Viper Room, but basically I had a loaded gun and a stun-gun on me! I was playing and people threw a broken tambourine right into my eye. And it was a set-up that they were doing. There’s more on that! All I know is that I walked out of there pretty clean with a broken sitar. You did brawl though… Yeah. Well, you can see it, they knocked me down to the ground and I popped right out at them… I’d do the same man… I’d climb up from the bottom of a patch, I’m not gonna be beat-up by people, especially when I didn’t do anything! It was a set-up. I just don’t do that. First of all, I never kick or hurt people when they’re down. I mean, I’ll let them get-up, and tell ‘em like “You’ve gotta end this.” I’ll put my head into a wall once and fall down, y’know, but if I punched someone’s glasses off I’d pick up you’re glasses because you’re gonna need ‘em. Straight-up! I’ll never give-up! I don’t care how hard you beat me down, you’re not gonna beat me, you’re not gonna keep me down, never! I’m like… Chumbawumba! [Singing Tubthumpin] I get knocked down / but I get up again / you’re never gonna keep me down… NO! THIS IS MY INTERVIEW NOT YOURS! I wanna speak… IT DOESN’T MATTER! I’m gonna end this thing and you can speak to yourself on the fucking tube! I don’t give a good god-damn! “How influential have you been on the success of previous bandmates?” Peter Hayes [Black Rebel Motorcycle Club] I taught him how to play guitar so you figure it out! Get sound scan, get people and figure out how many records they’ve sold! I dunno! That’s the fact! Peter Hayes, I taught him how to play guitar - high five! “How happy are you with the current line-up?” Well, It’s not unpredictable, we’ve been doing this since, like 2000, so that’s longer than… Yeah but… IT DOESN’T MATTER! When I’m in the dialogue I’m in the dialogue! Your mental notes… We can talk afterwards about what’s been said, I’m moving this along, because my time’s too valuable. I have forty-nine paid employees, I don’t know what you’re doing; fetching FUCKING COFFEES… WHAT THE FUCK?! Your times too valuable? Forty employees? I’VE GOT NO FUCKING EMPLOYEES ANTON! NONE! I have forty-nine employees! I HAVE NO FUCKING EMPLOYEES! I’m an employee of fucking nothing! I TOLD YOU! MINIMUM DECORUM! I‘M ON MY FUCKING ROLE HERE MAN! Anton, Anton… You may be well paid, you may have money, you may have FUCKING EMPLOYEES… I GIVE AWAY MORE MONEY TO OXFAM THAN YOU WILL EVER MAKE! I’m not well paid! Smell my shoes I’ve been walking in these for two years! I work very hard… I’m not gonna have a discussion about this! [Anton stands abruptly and walks away, leaving his Welsh beauty, myself and the PR guy alone] I BEAT YOU ANTON! CHUMBAWUMBA! The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s thirteenth full-length studio album ‘My Bloody Underground’ is released on March 31st. The DiG! Special Edition (2 Disc) DVD is released on March 24th… Just don’t tell Anton, right? Words: Dangerous Dave Dryden
tags: | anton newcombe | brian jonestown massacre | my bloody underground | dig | dandy warhols | more...
Notion gets Jahcoozi to 'Stand and Point'!
Notion gets Jahcoozi to 'Stand and Point'!
08/02/2008
With the mixture of Sri-Lankan born Londoner Sasha Perera, Israeli beat master Oren Gerlitz and native Berlin-boy Robert Koch making up the six legged, three-headed bass/grime/electro outfit that is Jahcoozi, Planetnotion is more than proud to have this beat-beat playing at the launch of our new bi-monthly, STAND AND POINT . Over the course of two albums (2005’s Pure Breed Mongrel and last years Blitz n’ Ass), Jahcoozi have explored the effects of three very individual personalities mixing their influences and passions into the melting pot of Berlin’s underground electronica scene, with some bass-driven, booty-shaking results! Over the course of their six year history, Jahcoozi have refined their live shows down to an in-yer-face, come-and-get-it display of confidence, lyrical skill and drunken tomfoolery – soon to be unleashed on Cargo on 15th Febuary. We caught up with singer/MC and all round star Sahsa for an in-depth discussion on Jahcoozi’s formative years, lyrical content and bitchy internet nerds – prepare to be enthralled… Words: Louis Cook Sasha, Jahcoozi’s sound is extremely unique, with a blend of ragga, hip-hop, electro and all sorts – do you think this was the result of your individual passions mixing together, or the fact that you’re all from such different cultural backgrounds? I think it’s a bit of both actually. When you have three very different individuals working together, you end up having to make certain compromises, which can lead you in a pretty unpredictable direction. The outcome’s usually different to the initial idea. But, I think that’s what keeps us feeling fresh about what we do. I don’t know whether our music is directly influenced in the way people would expect though; by say, being born in Israel (because Oren’s Israeli), or Sri-Lanka (because my roots lie there). I think each of us has been exposed to pop music in different ways though, which is dependant on how, or where, we’ve been brought up; and of course that has an effect on what you have become. However, it’s not easy to pinpoint what influences come from where exactly… In the times that we grew-up in the world was already global in terms of music culture. But I’m not sure every country, and all music culture had a global effect; London was certainly global though in terms of music. My dad dragged me to Ravi Shanker concerts and my sister and I sang, cross-legged at Bugens or Sai Baba events as kids. I listened to the likes of Wham! on my first Walkman; jungle and pirate radio, and would sneak out to go to carnival. All of that took place in London within the first thirteen years of my life - in the end you’re like a sponge, with long-term memory loss and a short attention span! What single word do you each think describes your music and why? I’m no good at choosing single things, as you can see ‘I’ is reflected in the works of Jahcoozi, so here are two; pop, as in communication through text, melody and song structures - addressing ‘popular’ issues. As a female communicator and front woman there’s an interactive live presence. Then of course there’s bass, which is an absolute prerequisite! What are your individual roles within the group and what do you, as individuals, add as far as the depth of your music is concerned? In some ways our roles within Jahcoozi are obvious and well cut-out, but in other ways we all just do what’s necessary really. In terms of production, Robert creates the basis of the beats, sound, and arrangement used and I write all the texts and melodies. We either all sit around together, record and come up with a finished track in terms of arrangement, or I record with Oren and we come up with a structure. Basically, it’s a varied process and there’s not really any fixed procedure. Having your debut EP played by the legendary John Peel - that must have been quite something! How did you feel about the reception your ‘Fish’ EP garnered? It was all pretty unexpected and to be honest, it didn’t really have a major impact on us. It was definitely something you could tell your mum; something she’d be able to appreciate, because she’s probably heard of him… In terms of changing my life, that wasn’t really the case. I just carried on being a skint raver in Berlin with a bit more bounce in my stride, I guess. But it was unexpected because I’d only started making music the year before (2002) and ‘Fish’ was the second song I’d ever made, or the second I’d made with Robert anyway. I’d messed about a bit doing random vocals on clubby, techy tracks, but never really a song. When Robert sent off some demos I was just happy to have done anything at all… I wasn’t even thinking about labels or anything. Then, when we got some good responses, I was kind of shocked… Aphex Twin’s label Rephlex had even answered us, which gave me a huge buzz. ‘Fish’ came out on WMF Records about six months later, back when labels brought out records without thinking about the financial disaster… Your lyrics are pretty fucking punchy! The subject matter of ‘Acne’ for example, with the hedonistic sex-on-legs club leech and her resulting deterioration. Are your songs related to experiences of either yourselves or acquaintances; or are you merely staring through the looking glass at the larger picture? Wicked - haven’t had a question about that song in ages! It is partly based on my own experiences or fears. When I wrote that track in 2004 it was like a big running joke - running around Berlin in all the clubs looking young, fresh and lovely; but there was always a dark side to think about because people who get used to being treated nice, for superficial reasons of beauty or wealth, may have a nasty shock waiting for them round the corner - Schadenfreude and realism in one! Also, at the time I was skint as fuck with post-uni debts and a no-hoper lifestyle working in clubs, so I modeled for about a year, using the funds from that to keep me alive whilst making unprofitable underground music. I was in Milan for a month too, that’s exactly the sordid, superficial and downright damaging environment that I saw young girls hanging out in. The flow of Eastern European and South American girls was unstoppable and it was a frighteningly empty environment; basically recipe for disaster unless you have a personality before you get there which most of those girls didn’t. A bit like the downfall of the model in Amores Peres, you know? I only saw that film recently, but it comes to mind. Would you say some of your material verges on political – in the sense that it hits upon topics such as class division, ethnicity and crime? Crime? I didn’t realize that actually, unless you mean the bit about high-school shoot-outs on (Jahcoozi song) ‘Gameboy’. But, yeah, the other stuff isn’t really what I would call political, in the sense that it’s not a calling or has a specific message. I would say it deals with issues that normal people have to deal with or see in the media… It’s just an entertaining social observation, with a kind of black humour twist thrown in. Tell us about your live shows – we heard you’ve played on a fishing trawler in Poland and even in the back of a doner kebab shop. Why is it so important for you to make your live shows such a unique experience? It’s not that we only play in weird locations to make it a unique experience; it’s more the environment that we started off in. In Berlin there are, and were, a lot of weird semi-legal locations; when we were starting out I asked the people I knew who did parties if we could play there. That was the environment that I was hanging out in, so that’s where we had our first gigs. They were special though; fucked-up sound-systems and shitty lighting, but the vibe was dope, a unique ‘I-don’t-give-a-shit’ kind of time which was perfect for developing our stage persona. That was a pre-blogger time, before all the bitchy nerds sat behind their laptop, waiting to tell the world how you sang badly at your first gig! I’m only joking, but you can see nowadays how people get lots of internet hype from one tune having never played live, which must be terrifying! I had tonnes of fun getting fucked-up and playing gigs at weird underground venues in and around Berlin. It was through friends of friends that we got our first international gigs in Poland, Switzerland… Nowadays things are different; we have a booking agency and we play at different kinds of events. Art Festivals, commercial clubs, concert stages - we obviously have a lot more exposure than when we were only known within freaky Berlin circles. You’ve also opened for the likes of Aphex Twin and the Big Dada Soundsystem – on a scale of 1-10, where do place those experiences and why? That gig in Switzerland, back in 2004, was the first big festival we had played at. It was about a year after our first gig in Berlin. It was a festival with Aphex Twin, Big Dada and Jamie Lidell; all heroes of mine. I was shocked that I was part of something so big when a year earlier I would merely have been a consumer at the same event - I mean, I’d bought albums from these people! I was also deeply impressed by the sound; there were side feeds, as in extra monitors and technicians, an extra monitor mixer and everything! After playing all over crusty Berlin illegal raves it was like a dream come true. It all sounded amazing and I could really hear my own voice on stage. The French speaking crowd were also wicked, exactly the kind of people who appreciate our sound. Compared to Berlin, do you think the current London electronic scene needs a kick up the arse? Not necessarily. Actually though, I think the London club scene needs a bit of a kick up the arse; it’s all a bit too regulated. But musically I still think London has loads of shit to offer. In a way I feel that Berlin was more exciting when I moved back in 2000. Berlin has always been a pretty techno oriented city, but I feel that the minimal techno hype has really gone overboard there. I found that stuff exciting in 2001, when I worked in Club Des Visionaires at afterhours; Akufen would just turn up and play and stuff. But, I think it’s all over now and more than anything people abroad, and some in Berlin, think that minimal is all that the place has to offer. There are lots of kids doing cool stuff over there; dubstep and Bashment for example - but it doesn’t seem to be getting any spotlight. Minimal minimal minimal grind, minimal grinds on and on, and 12 years after Robert Hood brought out an album entitled the same! Do you plan to move in any other directions - to play Einstein with your sound and change your approach, or do you think you’ve found a niche in the current market? I hope we play Einstein; change our approach and don’t fall into a niche. You’ve gotta stay ahead of yourself otherwise it gets boring. Also, with three fidgety little kids like us, you can never really find one thing that you all want for long. Sasha, you must be looking forward to returning to London, was it a big influence on your music? Yeah, for definite. I find it pretty odd that we played in places like Istanbul and Poland well before we had our London debut back in 2006. I think the biggest influence London had on me was growing up clubbing in the 90s. Basically, there was a new genre every year and new parties that would sprout from the scene. You could chuck out all your old clothes and redefine yourself without anyone in the city batting an eyelid. The erratic and fickle London-ness has served as a springboard for creativity; it’s like the city has an anything goes approach. Finally, what’s to be expected from Jahcoozi in the future? Well… erm… our own perfume line and charity work I guess! Only joking - I dunno really, I can’t really say. We’ll take an anything goes approach to the third album or maybe I’ll just retire to the coconut plantation to plan my comeback!
tags: | jahcoozi | stand and point | sasha perera | oren gerlitz | robert koch | more...
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